The present invention relates to an electric rearview mirror system for a motor vehicle, in which the angles of the mirrors of mirror units of the system can be changed under remote control by one seated in the driver's seat of the vehicle. Cases housing the mirrors can be moved back and forth between a use position and a put-away position under remote control by one seated in the driver's seat.
Many aspects of the motor vehicle have recently been improving. As part of the improvements, there has been a widespread trend in electrifying the door-attached rearview mirror systems. In a conventional rearview mirror system of this type, a mirror is rotatably supported in a case rotatably supported by a shaft on the door of the motor vehicle. A drive mechanism including a first electric motor for turning the mirror up and down, a second electric motor for turning the mirror right and left, and a third electric motor for moving the case back and forth between a use position and a put-away position is provided in the case. A switch means, which is manipulated by the driver of the vehicle, is provided in the driver's area of the vehicle so that a plurality of kinds of command signals, which are electrical current signals for directly driving the electric motors, are selectively sent out by the switch means to turn the mirror up and down and right and left and move the case between the use position and the put-away position. The switch means and the drive mechanisms are connected to each other through an electric cord composed of a plurality of electric wires, through which the command signals are transmitted from the switch means to the drive mechanism. In order to turn the case properly, the shaft supporting the case is located at the center of the turning thereof and made hollow so that the electric cord is laid through the shaft.
When the angle of the mirror is to be adjusted prior to moving the vehicle into a garage or to the side of a road, or when a different driver is in the driver's seat, etc., the mirror can be turned to a desired position by manipulating the switch means. However, the mirror turned to the new position, needs to be returned to the original position after the vehicle is removed from the garage or from the side of the road, or when the original driver is seated again, etc. Since it would be troublesome to perform manipulation to return the mirror to the original position, the normal position of the mirror is stored in advance to automatically return the mirror to the stored normal position by the one-shot manipulation of a return switch provided in the driver's area of the vehicle.
To accomplish this, the mirror case houses a position sensor for detecting the position of the mirror, a memory means for storing data including the results of detection of the position sensor corresponding to the normal position of the mirror, and a control means for regulating the drive mechanism on the basis of the detection output from the position sensor, the stored contents in the memory means, and a return command signal from the return switch. The switch means and the return switch are located in the body of the motor vehicle. The drive mechanism and the control means are located in the mirror case. These are connected to each other through an electric cord made of a plurality of electric wires. A plurality of command signals from the switch means and the return switch are transmitted to the drive mechanism and the control means through the electric cord.
Since the number of the electric wires that make up the electric cord of the conventional electric rearview mirror system is large due to different large number of the kinds of the command signals, the outside diameter of electric cord is also large. For that reason, the case, into which the cord is laid, and the shaft supporting the case also needs to be made large. As a result, the design of the motor vehicle is likely to be restrained, creating a design problem.
Moreover, there is another in problem that the presence of the electric cord increases the complexity of manufacturing the mirror system.